Archive for August, 2010

6 Tips for Talking with Your Kids About Divorce

This post was originally intended for Man of the House, but it’s kind of personal and so I’d rather share it with you here.  It’s a bit off my usual focus here, but family is important… “Daddy, why don’t you and mommy live together anymore?” [Silence.] About a year ago, that question stopped me in my tracks. It came from my son, Kaden, who was two years old at the time.  I can remember noticing what seemed to be a sad look on his face while we prepared dinner one evening.  I was heartbroken by such a valid and genuine question from my little guy. But it got me thinking. Divorce is hard on kids of any age. I remember growing up in a split home, during the late-80s and early-90s, and dealing with issues of low self-esteem and lack of trust.  I also always seemed to have trouble making friends at school.  My parents split when I was five and the sudden changes in routines, locations and home life hit me pretty hard.  There were occasions where I would get sick to my stomach for no apparent reason other than being stressed and upset.  The upholstery in my Opa’s Volkswagen Golf would ultimately pay the price (more than once). Kids Remember More Than You Think Kaden’s mom and I split not long before his third birthday.  We thought that because he was so young it might be easier for him. Maybe, we hoped, he simply wouldn’t remember how things were before the marriage ended.  We were even fortunate enough that the marriage ended on good terms. Unfortunately, the consensus of experts is that most children gain the ability to recall memories somewhere between the ages two and five years old. Taking that to heart, I think it’s a safer bet for parents to err on the side of caution.  Even [...]

Read This Post

Getting EPIC in Detroit: #EpicTweetup

The fact that Twitter has now become a reason to gather fascinates me. Cheryl and I had the chance to travel to a gathering of of the cool Twitter kids in Detroit this weekend.  The EPIC Chevy Tweetup went off exactly as it was branded: EPICally. It seems there are loads of things happening in Detroit these days.  That might contradict what you’ve heard (or not heard) on the news.  I think the recent groundswell around technology and innovation is a result of how tight-knit the social media community is up there. And yet, we were welcomed from three-and-a-half hours away as a part of the crowd.  That’s just cool. Folks like Charlie and Elena Wollberg made us feel so comfortable and filled us in on who Detroit is changing.  Becky Johns was the reason we heard about EPIC in the first place.  She was kind enough to introduce us to a whole crew of people.  And have you looked at my Twitter background recently?  Twilk is the work of Kyle Mulka, who’s also out of Detroit.  What was classic was watching Brandon Chesnutt and Christopher Barger rock many a tune during the live band karaoke portion of the night.  These dudes know how to win over crowds. What Makes a Tweetup EPIC It’s ironic that on the drive up to Michigan, I was reminded of “plur” while listening to Tony Hsieh read his book, Delivering Happiness. You see, back in early days of college, I was one of the kids who caught the tail end of the rave scene.  My friends and I danced nights away deep in the underground of vacant warehouses and closed-down skating rinks.  The electronic sounds of DJs like Bad Boy Bill, Tiesto and even Paul Okenfold fed the parties with enough energy to light up a city.  At raves, plur was a [...]

Read This Post
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. ...
  10. 13